All Discussions Tagged 'Neanderthals' - Think Atheist2016-12-09T16:21:49Zhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=Neanderthals&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThe Racists Really Won't Like This!tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-02-12:1982180:Topic:12593672013-02-12T21:28:57.273ZUnseenhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/Unseen
<p><em>A new study out has figured out about 60% of the letters of DNA from three different Neanderthal bones. It is amazing how much a scientist can learn from a long extinct relative.</em></p>
<p><em>First off, it looks like there was some interbreeding between species at some point. By comparing human and Neanderthal DNA, scientists can tell that around 1-4% of European and Asian DNA came from Neanderthals. And it looks like Africans have no Neanderthal DNA at all.</em></p>
<p><em><span>This…</span></em></p>
<p><em>A new study out has figured out about 60% of the letters of DNA from three different Neanderthal bones. It is amazing how much a scientist can learn from a long extinct relative.</em></p>
<p><em>First off, it looks like there was some interbreeding between species at some point. By comparing human and Neanderthal DNA, scientists can tell that around 1-4% of European and Asian DNA came from Neanderthals. And it looks like Africans have no Neanderthal DNA at all.</em></p>
<p><em><span>This is just what might be expected if there was interbreeding because Neanderthals and Africans probably never met. All the evidence so far points to Neanderthals living in Europe and Asia and not in Africa.</span></em> (<a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news128" target="_blank">source</a>)</p>
<p>Racists have tended to depict Africans as more primitive than Europeans or Asians. However, when most of us think of primitive humans, Neanderthals come to mind. The latest theory on the demise of Neanderthals no longer has them being killed off by modern Man or dying off by an inability to compete. Rather, it looks like the moderns and Neanderthals interbred. They blended in, genetically speaking, with modern man. </p>